Isaiah 17

NEW JERUSALEM	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 Proclamation about Damascus: Damascus wil soon cease to be a city, it wil become a heap of ruins.	1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will be like a heap of stones in ruin.
2 Its towns, abandoned for ever, wil be pastures for flocks; there they wil rest with no one to disturbthem.	2 The cities in ruin will be left for the flocks, and they will take rest there, and there will be no one who may terrify them.
3 Ephraim wil be stripped of its defences and Damascus of its sovereignty; and the remnant of Aram wilbe treated like the glory of the Israelites -- declares Yahweh Sabaoth.	3 And assistance will cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom will cease from Damascus. And the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the sons of Israel, says the Lord of hosts.
4 When that day comes, Jacob's glory wil diminish, from being fat he wil grow lean;	4 And this shall be in that day: the glory of Jacob will be thinned, and the fatness of his flesh will be reduced.
5 as when a reaper gathers in the standing corn, harvesting the ears of corn with his arm, or when theyglean the ears in the Val ey of Rephaim,	5 And it shall be like the gathering of the harvest which remains, and his arm will pick the ears of grain. And it shall be like a search for grain in the valley of Rephaim.
6 nothing wil remain but pickings, as when an olive tree is beaten; two or three berries left on thetopmost bough, four or five berries on the branches of the tree -- declares Yahweh, God of Israel.	6 And what is left behind in it will be like one cluster of grapes, or like a shaken olive tree with two or three olives at the top of a branch, or like four or five olives at the top of a tree, says the Lord God of Israel.
7 That day, a man wil look to his Creator and his eyes wil turn to the Holy One of Israel.	7 In that day, a man will bow before his Maker, and his eyes will consider the Holy One of Israel.
8 He will no longer look to altars, his own handiwork, or to what his own fingers have made: the sacredpoles and incense-altars.	8 And he will not bow before the altars that his hands have made. And he will not consider the things that his fingers have made, the sacred groves and the shrines.
9 That day, its cities of refuge wil be abandoned as were the woods and heaths at the Israelites'advance: there wil be desolation.	9 In that day, his strong cities will be abandoned, like the plows and the grain fields which were left behind before the face of the sons of Israel, and you shall be deserted.
10 Since you have forgotten the God of your salvation, and failed to keep the Rock, your refuge, in mind,you plant pleasure-gardens, you sow exotic seeds;	10 For you have forgotten God your Savior, and you have not remembered your strong Helper. Because of this, you will plant trustworthy plants, but you will sow a foreign seed.
11 the day you plant them, you get them to sprout, and, next morning, your seedlings are in flower; butthe harvest wil vanish on the day of disease and incurable pain.	11 In the day of your planting, the wild grapevine and your morning seed will flourish. The harvest has been taken away to the day of inheritance, and you will grieve heavily.
12 Disaster! The thunder of vast hordes, a thunder like the thunder of the seas, the roar of nationsroaring like the roar of mighty floods,	12 Woe to the multitude of many peoples, like the multitude of the roaring sea! Woe to the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters!
13 of nations roaring like the roar of ocean! He rebukes them and far away they flee, driven like chaff onthe mountains before the wind, like an eddy of dust before the storm.	13 The peoples will make a noise, like the noise of waters overflowing, but he will rebuke him, and so he will flee far away. And he will be quickly taken away, like the dust of the mountains before the face of the wind, and like a whirlwind before a tempest.
14 At evening al is terror, by morning al have disappeared. Such wil be the lot of those who plunder us,such, the fate of our despoilers.	14 In the time of the evening, behold: there will be a disturbance. When it is early morning, he will not remain. This is the portion of those who have devastated us, and this is the lot of those who have plundered us.